[Inclosure.]
Mr. Aymé to the
Department of State.
Consulate of the United States,
Guadeloupe,
Washington
,
July 21,
1902
.
Sir: I have the honor to report that while
assuming charge of British interests in Martinique, from May 11 to
June 9, in the absence of any diplomatic or consular officer of
Great Britain in that colony, consul Japp having perished in the
catastrophe of May 8, which destroyed St. Pierre, I performed the
following official acts and services:
I viséed manifests and gave vessels bound for British ports
certificates to take the place of bills of health. These services
were rendered gratis, no fee being charged or collected.
May 17, with a guide, I went to the ruins of the British consulate,
and there found remains believed to be those of Consul James Japp. I
provided a metallic casket, incased in wood, and an attempt was made
May 19 to recover the body. Captain Campbell, of H. B. M. cruiser
Indefatigable, accompanied the
expedition, and has doubtless reported fully to his Government in
the matter.
[Page 539]
I endeavored to assist and ameliorate the condition of such British
subjects as I found in the hospitals, particularly C. C. Evans, of
Montreal, Canada, and little Margaret Stokes and her nurse, Clara
King, both of Barbados. Mr. Evans was taken to New York, May 81, on
the U. S. S. Dixie, through the kindness, of
Captain Berry and the officers of that vessels, who assumed all
expenses connected therewith, mess bills, etc.
Margaret Stokes, a 9-year old child, was the sole surviving member of
a family of four, her mother, sister, and brother having perished on
the Roraima. That she was saved was due first
to the devotion of her nurse, Clara King, and subsequently to the
bravery and devotion of Lieutenant Du Plessis of the French vessel
of war Suchet. This gentleman personally
rescued both child and nurse from the blazing wreck of the Roraima; he gave them his cabin and was
assiduous in his attentions to them; when they were transferred to
the hospice at Fort de France he made daily visits there, devoting
his whole shore leave to these visits, as the hospice is a
considerable distance from the landing pier. He brought them fruit
and other delicacies, and all of these acts were performed so
modestly and quietly that I did not learn of them for many days.
When the little girl’s uncle, Mr. J. S. Croney, of Barbados, came to
take her away I took him on board the Suchet,
In addition to Mr. Croney’s thanks I, as acting British
representative, had Lieutenant Du Plessis summoned to the captain’s
cabin and formally thanked him for his kindly and gracious conduct,
adding that, if possible for me so to do, I would communicate my
action to His British Majesty’s Government, which would doubtless
amply confirm and approve it.
I must also report that Mr. Croney was called upon to pay hospital
expenses amounting to $64; $1 a day for child and nurse, each, for
twenty-eight days and $8 for a special English-speaking attendant I
found it necessary to employ. Mr. Croney was much annoyed at being
called upon to pay the hospital bill. The following day the mayor of
Fort de France returned the money with an ample explanation and many
regrets that the error of charging anything should have occurred. I
have forwarded the money to Mr. Croney, who is a very well to do, if
not wealthy, merchant and Government contractor of Barbados.
When leaving Martinique I informed the acting governor that until His
Britannic Majesty’s Government should act there was no official or
acting representative thereof in the colony.
It is a matter of deep regret to me that I could not succeed in
rescuing the remains of our late consul nor any of the archives of
the consulate. All were buried under many feet of volcanic mud and
ejecta.
The courteous message of the governor of the Windward Islands, and
still more the appreciative note forwarded to me from the Marquis of
Lansdowne through His Britannic Majesty’s embassy in this capital,
are ample reward for the slight services I may have been able to
render.
I have, etc.,
Louis H. Aymé, United States Consul.